1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus, an information processing apparatus, a communication system and a communication method, all of which are applied to a system wherein a plurality of users share various apparatuses connected to a network, and a storage medium on which are stored computer-readable processing steps for implementing the communication method.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, apparatuses such as copiers, printers, scanners and facsimile machines, which read and form images, are most often employed independently.
However, as one consequence of the continued development of computers and networks, the use has increased the number of arrangements, such as the one described above, wherein various types of apparatuses are connected together in a network.
As one example of such formations, a system has become popular with which, by combining a function provided by an apparatus readily available to a user (hereinafter referred to as a logical apparatus) and a function provided by an apparatus connected to a network (hereinafter referred to as a printer), a series of meaningful processes can be performed.
With this system, the performance of the following example operations is possible. Such as when to copy a document a user employs a local apparatus (a scanner) to scan the document, and to print the document the user transmits the obtained image data across a network to a remote apparatus (a printer). Or when a user employs a local apparatus (a terminal, such as a personal computer) to extract image data from a computer or a database at a distant location on a network, and uses another local apparatus (a printer) to print the thus obtained image data.
When in the above described system a remote apparatus (e.g., a copier) on the network is shared by a plurality of designated users, the unlimited use of the copier by a user other than the designated users must be prevented, and the status of the employment of the copier by each authorized user must be recorded.
Therefore, a user who desires to use the copier must first enter a password using the operating section of a terminal (a local apparatus), or must enter his or her user information by employing a management card on which the user information is magnetically recorded. Then, the terminal performs a verification process to authenticate the user. When the user has been authenticated the terminal accepts an entry from the operating section, requests that the copier (a remote apparatus) on the network perform an operation desired by the user, and at the same time, updates the user's operating record information (information concerning the employment status of the copier, etc.). Therefore, the copier (the remote apparatus) performs an operation in accordance with the request transmitted by the user's terminal (the local apparatus).
However, as is described above, while a local apparatus may perform a verification process to authenticate a user, in response to an operation request received across a network, a remote apparatus does not perform a verification process. Instead, it simply accepts the operation request.
Therefore, once the authentication of a user has been performed by a specific local apparatus, the user is permitted to use all the remote apparatuses on the network, i.e., the user may use a remote apparatus the use of which is prohibited. Thus, a problem exists relative to the management and the security of apparatuses.